UKC

Following on from the thread "which outdoor companies do you trust the most" I was wondering. How would a new outdoor company gain trust?

For instance, new company "design crisis gear"invented a product, say a piece of protection it's new,innovative all tested CE, EN, UIAA. Would you be more inclined to buy the new gear from a trusted company ie DMM, Black Diamond than the new company?

Before people ask, I'm not planning on selling my big cam!

In reply to design crisis:
Trust is key for something safety critical, so I'd only buy from an established brand with a good reputation. In addition to the CE/EN/UIAA their gear has been tried & tested in real use by millions of times by hundreds of thousands of climbers over several decades.

I've bought stuff from smaller EU brands so it doesn't need to be a big brand like DMM etc, for a small new brand the CE/EN/UIAA testing should be done in a country I trust.

I'd never buy from "design crisis" though - too scarey sounding!

In reply to design crisis: Building the brand is the name of the game. The early adopters will buy because it is radical/cheap/sexy/exciting/novel etc (perm any 3). In turn they spread the word and the rest follow like sheep, apart from the very wary who come in just as the design gets changed. Think Russian ice screws in the 70's or the growth of Arcteryx (no pedants please).

In reply to design crisis: this sort of thing helps youtube.com/watch?v=XDPctA3svm8&

In reply to design crisis:

It works. It works in real conditions. It works in real conditions and adds a significant improvement over other products.

Example BD camalots in the late 90's. Buffalo in the early 90's. Patagonia R1 hoodie.

In reply to itsThere: How ? ... "The buy my gear or I will try and kill myself" school of product marketing. It reminded me of the Darwin Awards story with the unbreakable window.

In reply to itsThere:

That is brilliant, ultimate faith in your product. Not many businessmen can say they have risked it all!!

In reply to design crisis:

You have to give people a reason to deviate from the known.

This has to be either

a) Price
b) Function (Innovation comes here)
c) Form

Then, you have to market well. In the outdoors market, this seems to be typically done by;

a) Sponsoring professionals
b) Classical advertising (Magazines, Online, UKC)
c) Trade shows
d) Giving freebies to gear reviewers (UKC, Outdoorsmagic, AKP e.t.c)